Lou Lou on Market is a soul food restaurant in Nulu, Louisville.
Editorially verified May 21, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Signature dishes: Shrimp and grits, Bananas Foster
Must order: The shrimp and grits, the kitchen's loudest plate.
Tip: Patio seats are first-come on weekends. Book the dining room on OpenTable for Friday and Saturday.
Address: 812 East Market Street, Louisville, KY 40206
bar Vetti in Louisville pours Italian wines and pulls house-made pasta from the AC Hotel corner of East Market and Shelby Street in NuLu. Priced at $$$.
Signature: House-made pasta, Caesar salad
Order: Whatever pasta is on the daily list, plus the Caesar salad for the table.
Tip: Book on Resy. Bar seats and the patio take walk-ins early in the evening.
Garage Bar on East Market in Louisville turned a former auto-service shop into a wood-fired pizza pub with a courtyard ping-pong table and a Kentucky bourbon.
Signature: Wood-fired pizza, Pork meatballs
Order: The wood-fired pork-meatball pizza, with a Kentucky bourbon old fashioned.
Tip: Kitchen serves until late on weekends. The patio fills first on warm nights.
bar Vetti in Louisville pours Italian wines and pulls house-made pasta from the AC Hotel corner of East Market and Shelby Street in NuLu. Priced at $$$.
Signature: House-made pasta, Caesar salad
Order: Whatever pasta is on the daily list, plus the Caesar salad for the table.
Tip: Book on Resy. Bar seats and the patio take walk-ins early in the evening.
Le Moo in Louisville runs Lexington Road's theatrical steakhouse: a black-walled dining room, dry-aged cuts and a caviar service that arrives on a silver.
Signature: Dry-aged steaks, Caviar service
Order: A bone-in ribeye and the caviar service to start.
Tip: Reserve on OpenTable for the dining room. The bar pours a sharp bourbon list with the full menu.
Buck's Restaurant in Louisville has poured Old Louisville's continental dinner since 1992, set inside the historic Mayflower building on West Ormsby.
Signature: Crab cakes, Bacon-wrapped shrimp
Order: The crab cakes and the bacon-wrapped shrimp, two long-running classics.
Tip: Closed Sundays. Best for a special-occasion dinner with a view of the room's vintage piano bar.
Volare in Louisville pours seasonal Italian dinners with house-made pasta on Frankfort Avenue, three years running the Louisville Magazine readers' best.
Signature: Sea bass piccata, Tomato salad
Order: The sea bass piccata, the kitchen's most-ordered plate.
Tip: Book the dining room online. The bar opens at 16:30 and pours a sharp aperitivo list.
Garage Bar on East Market in Louisville turned a former auto-service shop into a wood-fired pizza pub with a courtyard ping-pong table and a Kentucky bourbon.
Signature: Wood-fired pizza, Pork meatballs
Order: The wood-fired pork-meatball pizza, with a Kentucky bourbon old fashioned.
Tip: Kitchen serves until late on weekends. The patio fills first on warm nights.
Naive Kitchen in Louisville cooks vegetable-forward Latin plates from a Butchertown corner on East Washington Street, the neighbourhood's vegan-friendly room.
Signature: Vegetable-forward plates, Latin-inspired bowls
Order: The seasonal grain bowl, plus a margarita with house chile salt.
Tip: Book on OpenTable. The bar runs a separate cocktail list with mocktail-forward options.
